Pretend it's okay
by foxyeyes
Summary: Itachi Uchiha is an infamous S-rank criminal, one of the akatsuki. he had betrayed his motherland once and now he has to do it again, although he might change his mind because of a certain person. meanwhile, his boss will start playing a cruel joke with him. and the game begins...
1. Chapter 1

'It can't be…'

'Yes, it can. And this is the truth and we're supposed to take advantage.'

'But she is just a little kid!'

'I know, but we need the ten-tails as soon as possible.'

'Yes, but she's never shown anything that would tell us that ten-tails really exists. You must be mistaking something.'

'No, I'm not. We have proved that this kid is a powerful jinchuuriki. The thing is that the ten-tails beast is a peaceful creature and it doesn't show that it is in her and doesn't burst out with anger like the nine-tails. Now… we have to plan what we're supposed to do and we need a spy to the Hidden Leaf.'

There were 6 grown up men with serious and a bit worried faces; a dimwit sitting in the corner playing toys in a mask and a blonde, really long haired teenager with speech problems. Quite a weird crew, right? They were all wearing black cloaks with red clouds. They were sitting in a dark room, no lights; only a single lamp, no windows either. There was a round, wooden table, where they sat. They had some papers and photos of a girl with short pink hair.

'I can go! I'll be a great spy, hn…' the blonde smirked. He had his hands crossed over his head. He was rocking on his chair back and forth.

'Deidara, this is not a stalker company. We need the jinchuuriki that means we need the girl alive.' A man with orange hair and strange, grey eyes stood up and hit the table with both of his hands.

'Okay! Okay, no need to blow up. Calm down bro, I was just kidding, hn!' the blonde sat on his chair properly and grinned widely.

'What was I saying? Oh, yes. We need a spy. Well, none of you can enter The Hidden Leaf, so…' everyone looked at a 21-year-old guy at the end of the table. He had a terrifying glare. He had dark blue hair and red eyes. He was silent and staring at the orange haired man. Their glazes met. Silence.

'Itachi-san, we don't have a choice.' The orange haired man said a few moments later, while sitting down again.

'I understand.' The raven haired man said with a cold, emotionless voice that went under everyone's skin.

'You should put on some normal clothes on and look like a tourist or a normal teenager. Wear jeans and sneakers or something. Don't act like a ninja, say that you've retired. Spy on Sakura Haruno and make her come with you. If she doesn't fall for you, kidnap her.' The orange haired man ordered.

'Yes, leader-sama. I shall get going.' The raven haired man stood up and walked out of the room. Everyone was silent. Nobody dared to say a word. Everyone knew how hard it would be for Itachi to return to his motherland and act like a traitor once more. It would tear his soul apart, but they had no choice. They had to achieve their goal.

Itachi Uchiha walked in the dark hallways of the evil hideout. There was no light, no air and no common sense at all. He was thinking about the ways of avoiding the mission. He had betrayed his village once, already. And he couldn't do it again. After all he had done it to protect his homeland and it would be utterly disastrous to do it again. He bit his thumb. He walked through the hallway slowly, back and forth. Suddenly, he felt someone's hand on his shoulder; he turned around.

'I know the feeling. Don't worry, it'll fade away gradually. If you want, I'll tell leader-sama you don't feel well and I'll take your mission instead.' A man, about 35 years old, with red hair and a crooked smile was standing next to Itachi.

_Itachi's inner self: why is he suddenly so nice to me? He never showed any interest if I'm dead or alive. And now out of the blue he wants to help me… something's not right. I have to do the task myself, so nobody get hurt. At least not too many people. I don't trust this guy._

'Thank you, Sasori.' Itachi faked a smile. 'There's no need. I'll do it myself. It's not a problem at all.' he lied and slowly walked away to his room. He entered the room and was about to close the door. But Sasori squeezed his foot between the door and the wall.

'You're welcome, Itachi.' he said and closed the door himself. 'But there's no need to lie.' He said after he had closed the door and smirked. He put his hands in the pockets of his trousers under the cloak and walked to his room.

Itachi heard it. He knew he was an awful actor. He sat on his bed; Looking at the pictures of his family, friends and comrades on the wall. He wanted to cry, but tears wouldn't come. He was used to faking emotions and being cold. Nothing could make him cry now. He pushed himself back and put his head on the pillow, covering his face with his palms. His head ached. His mind was tearing apart. He looked to his right and saw aspirin on the bed-side table. He drank it; one pill, second, third… he quit counting soon. He was numb, his body didn't function properly. He wished to die; he really did. But he knew there was a reason he was alive. He knew he had to finish what he had started. He was a hero that would be remembered as a villain._ "But the world isn't a wish granting factory, after all." _he felt horrible pain in his whole body taking him over and ruining the last, most healthy parts of his already damaged organism. _"That's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt."_ He remembered the lines from the book he had lately read, The Fault in Our Stars. The book had affected him, really. But now, the only thing he could think about was tricking that little, innocent girl and then killing her. It was disgusting. He was sick, in his mind and body. He heard someone knocking on the door. He forced himself to stand up and walked to the door. He endured the unbearable pain and acted like it was nothing. He opened the door. It was Pein.

'Yes, leaser-sama?' Itachi's head was awfully dizzy. He was about to fall to the ground. He couldn't see; everything was dark in his eyes. He felt horrible pressure hitting his ears. He ignored all of it.

'Itachi-san, you don't look well. Are you sure you can do this?' Pein stood at the threshold with a worried face. 'I guess I'll ask Sasori.' He said and tried to close the door but Itachi didn't let him. He held the door with one hand and his forehead with another.

'There's no need to. I'm okay. Really. I'll be ready in a minute, let me pack my bags.' He said and smiled.

Pein looked at him suspiciously. Then looked down and shook his head with a grin. 'You are such a good liar, Itachi-san.' He laughed ironically and turned around to leave. 'Good night, Itachi-san.' He yelled from his back while walking away and laughing to himself.

'Good night, Pein-sama.' Itachi closed the door. He fell right at the moment the door had closed in front of him. His knees cut down and he fell. He sat on the floor and leaned to the door. He closed his eyes and imagined everything he had to do. 'No, you're wrong, Sasori.' He whispered to himself. 'That feeling won't fade away. You don't know the real pain of being homesick. You're too cruel and selfish to feel that. You'll never understand. This feeling will stay there forever after it has settled; the feeling that can't be washed away. It haunts me all the time telling me I'm doing everything wrong.' He laughed a killing laugh; the laugh of a mad, dying, sick-in-head person. 'Great! Now, I'm talking to myself! I'm going crazy.' He stood up ignoring the terrible pain. He opened the closet and packed his suitcase. He was ready 15 minutes later. He put on some casual clothes, like he'd been told to and walked to the door of the hideout.

'So excited to betray the Hidden Leaf so much?' he heard someone's ringing, unpleasant voice.

'Kisame, tell Pein-sama I've left.' He opened the door to leave but Kisame held the door.

'Hey, don't be a little kid. I was just joking, Mr. Serious.' He laughed grossly. Itachi glanced at him with his legendary Sharingan eyes. That was enough. Kisame left. So did he.

_**A.N**_

_**Hey folks! What's up? I hope you're having a great vacation! This is my next fanfic and I hope you like it. **____** Please write a review, pleeeeaaaseeeee! This is really important for me and I haven't got any reviews for a while and I'm starting to worry. I hope my fanfictions aren't that bad. Anyways, have a nice day and don't forget to feed your lama. ;) **_

_**xxx**_


	2. Chapter 2

He walked alone. He didn't run, he wasn't supposed to be a ninja, after all. It was dark and really creepy. But he didn't mind, he had always liked darkness. He'd never feared it, because he knew it couldn't harm him. Actually, he was fond of it; darkness was an opportunity to hide. Night seemed perfect to him; peace and quiet. Pain would fade in the night and make him feel livelier, though the sorrow and grief in his injured heart couldn't be helped. He stopped; the sounds of nature at night and the silence of the surrounding creatures. He closed his eyes and put his head up; he could feel the moonlight on his pale face vanishing away. He opened his eyes; blood-red color poured out from them. A moment later he was gone. He was already at the gates of the legendary village, standing there full of agony and guilt. But there was no way back. He stepped forward. Immediately being noticed by the guards he stopped and faced the shinobies that once were his comrades.

'Can I help you?' a man with messy, dark hair walked up to Itachi. 'You don't seem like a ninja, are you lost?' he added after analyzing his outfit.

'Actually, I'm a tourist. I've heard a lot about this village and I'd like to look around. That's all.' Itachi said with a casual voice, hiding his despair and misery. And he was really surprised that they didn't recognize him, maybe it was the darkness that didn't let them see him properly.

'Well, then you should see our Hokage first and then, if she accepts you, we'll show you the hotels.' The other man said kindly smiling at him.

'Oh, sure, but could you please show me the Hokage's office, please?' Itachi asked politely, but swearing from the inside.

_Itachi's inner self: 'Damn it! Screw you, guards! Tsunade will totally recognize me and probably won't let me stay here. What am I supposed to do?' _

'Don't worry. We'll take you to her, ourselves.' One of the men said and waved to Itachi, which meant 'Let's go'. Itachi followed them. In a couple of minutes they approached a tall building and climbed up the stairs. They walked in a long hall. Terrible nostalgia attacked Itachi. He remembered walking here years ago; back then he was an honored shinobi. He used to come here for missions of Anbu and now he's here as a spy, a traitor, a scum. He wanted to throw up, the thought of betraying his homeland once more made him sick. But he swallowed the anger and all other emotions to complete his mission. The man opened the door and greeted the Hokage. The door opened and Itachi felt horrible pressure hitting him like a drum.

'Lady Tsunade! Excuse us for storming in at such a late time, but we have a guest, who would like to stay in the Hidden Leaf for a while' one of the man said after bowing his head to the Hokage. The room was awfully familiar to Itachi. He'd spent hours sitting here, waiting for a mission. But he could remember the previous Hokage; Hiruzen Sarutobi; the legendary ninja, the old and wise person that had experienced many wars and battles. Now Itachi saw a woman; she was she had her head on the desk, she was sleeping. There were thousands of papers around her. The room itself was messy and disorganized. The environment had changed a lot.

'Hokage-sama!' the other man cleared his throat and spoke up. No reply from the leader. Both men sighed. This hasn't happened for the first time, because the men weren't really surprised.

'Shizune!' one of the men yelled, seeing that the Hokage wouldn't wake up. 'Shizune!' he called again.

'Yes?' a short woman with black hair popped her head from the door. 'Oh, she fell asleep… again…' she said after seeing the lady at the desk. She walked by Itachi, not taking any notice.

_Itachi's inner self: what's wrong with these people? It's like 3 a.m. and nobody is sleeping. And they're blaming the poor woman for falling asleep. I guess they went crazy after Hiruzen died._

'Lady Tsunade, there are people waiting for you! Wake up!' the raven haired woman was shaking the Hokage's arm. Finally, she raised her hair and looked at us with half shut eyes. She slowly straightened and set properly in her chair.

'Oh, I beg your pardon. I didn't think someone would come at this time. I guess I dozed while doing my work. So, what do we have here?' she asked sleepily while rearranging her hair.

'A tourist ma'am.' One of the men said. 'He came here for several days to look around.' he added later.

'Hmmm… your face seems so familiar, young man… but who exactly are you?' she asked narrowing her eyes, looking at me suspiciously and rubbing her chin.

_Itachi's Inner self: Is this woman kidding me? How can't she recognize me? I'm THE Itachi Uchiha. You know. Not too many people have blue hair; she must be really tired and sleepy. But it's better for me, if she doesn't recognize me because –'Itachi's_ thoughts were ceased by a loud crack and horrible pain in his whole body. Itachi soon found himself lying on the floor in the hall. The wall was cracked in the place he was lying. He looked up and saw lady Tsunade standing atop him, with her fist in his belly almost touching his stomach and making him puke. He coughed out blood.

'What the hell do you think you're doing, Uchiha? Are you completely out of your mind? You could have thought of a better disguise than a tourist! Get your ass out of here until I've kicked it!' the "lady" was yelling in his ear. He could barely move or speak.

'Lady Tsunade… you are the legendary Sanin everyone talks about. Indeed you are extremely strong and protective.' Itachi was speaking in a calm, soft voice, smirking at her. Tsunade shivered with anger. Her eyes were full of fury and disgust.

'What are you talking about, you little brat? I told you what to do!' she shrieked in Itachi's face, ready to kill him.

'Ma'am why are you so angry at me? Have I done something wrong? I just got homesick and decided to visit my motherland.' He grinned widely ignoring the blood rushing out of his mouth.

'Why did you let him enter the village?' she asked the men who assisted me not ruining the eye-contact with me.

'L-lady Tsunade… w-we…' one of the men dared to answer. Both boys seemed frightened t death; they were shaking and stammering, not able to finish a sentence.

'Speak up! I can't understand what you're mumbling there! Answer my goddamn question! Why did you let him through the gates?!' she was yelling right into Itachi's numb ears. He didn't move and waited for an answer. In fact, he was interested in that himself.

'W-we though h-he was a-a… a tourist, ma'am. We didn't r-recognize him. We beg your pardon.' both fellows bowed their heads. The Hokage glared at them and sighed heavily. Then she turned to Itachi.

'Get out of the village…' she whispered with disgust. This made Itachi tremble.

'Are you sure you want me to leave? I've heard you have a crisis. You're lacking ninjas. I suppose I won't be inconvenient for your Anbu. After all, I am the youngest Anbu you've ever had.' Itachi grinned as nicely as he could. But all of a sudden Tsunade smirked, too.

'Well, you _were _the youngest.' She stood up and let go of Itachi's collar which she had been squeezing in her fist this whole time. She wiped away the dust. Itachi stood up too and did the same. Their glares met; the air around them seemed to get colder, silence took over. The situation lasted for about a minute. Itachi was utterly confused but he didn't show any signs of his frustration.

'Sakura Haruno. She was 11 when she entered the Anbu.' She smirked evilly. She turned around and walked to her desk. She stepped over the ruins of the wall she had pushed Itachi's body through. She leaned to the edge of her table and looked at Itachi with joy.


End file.
